Well, I would never want to do this repair road/trail side. It is a REAL booger to get the thing apart, and that's with having "all" the tools I own at my disposal, a clean bench, good lighting, and no environmental factors making it more difficult than it already is.

That's also assuming you can take the tank off and save the gas in something else so you actually have gas to continue your journey in the event you do get things working again.

With that said, I suppose if your pump craps out on you and you do have a spare, and absolutely no help or transport within any reasonable distance, it might be worth attempting. You really don't have much to lose at that point. But even with my "experience" now doing this, I'm just not sure I could do it trail side, with limited tools.

The first report I saw on these, don't remember where, said it was difficult to take apart he pump without breaking anything (plastic tabs and what not). Just curious how delicate you thought it was.

My thoughts are to take this smaller pump on trips. Cheaper and smaller than a full on pump. The pump usually gives you some warning, so my thoughts would be to swap it out at night in the hotel room with a cold beer. But if its "too delicate" it might be worth bringing the full pump.

Been researching rear racks for the WR and like the Cyclerack. I had one on a TW200 and liked how well you could load it. My wife also liked it due to the fact she had hand holds while riding as passenger. It looks like it tucks out of the way on the sides (where it mounts). Any pros or cons? I have to admit it looked better on the TW than the WR.

I just put one on my WR and love it... Yes, the bling factor isn't there BUT the functionality factor is way high. I also have a TW and have one on it and a use a T-Bag that I move from one to the other. I'm now looking at mounting a Rotopax on the left side, hanging down along the tire, kinda matching the exhaust on the other side. I've seen pics here and it looks like it belongs there.

The first report I saw on these, don't remember where, said it was difficult to take apart he pump without breaking anything (plastic tabs and what not). Just curious how delicate you thought it was.

My thoughts are to take this smaller pump on trips. Cheaper and smaller than a full on pump. The pump usually gives you some warning, so my thoughts would be to swap it out at night in the hotel room with a cold beer. But if its "too delicate" it might be worth bringing the full pump.

Well the plastic itself isn't "delicate" per se - it's actually very thick. But it becomes delicate due to the amount of force required to get the plastic bent up enough to get over the tabs. There are 3 tabs, and it's all so tight-fitted that it's a real challenge getting them all lifted over the tabs so you can slide it apart. A couple times during the process I was pretty much just hoping something wouldn't just go "snap", and my efforts all be in vain.

Again, I don't know if I could do this trailside, or even in a motel room, with just the tools I carry in my tool roll, but I suppose if I did have a spare, I would attempt it before spending the $ on a new unit, and having to wait on it to arrive. Since my original pump still did work, I suppose I'll carry it with me on trips.

Sorry that the pics are too big. I always copy pics from my blog without issues, but the last few post here too large. I tried resizing in "edit post" and it bounces back to the large size again. Something must have changed with ADV site itself.

Anyway, if the post is too large, I can just delete it and leave a link to the blog post.

Sorry that the pics are too big. I always copy pics from my blog without issues, but the last few post here too large. I tried resizing in "edit post" and it bounces back to the large size again. Something must have changed with ADV site itself.

Anyway, if the post is too large, I can just delete it and leave a link to the blog post.

Thanks for the detailed report !

One question, once there:

Quote:

Loosen the fork caps on the bike. Once you remove the forks, remove the fork caps completely and turn the forks upside down. When all the oil drains, take out the springs and the little rod in the damper, move damper rod up and down a few times to drain rest of the oil, and set the forks on a bench.

If I were just going to change fork oil... could i just stop here and jump to:

Quote:

Standing the fork vertically, fill it to the top of inner tube with your fork oil. You have to remove the spring guide and the rod inside the damper for this procedure)

My bike sees very few dust, no sand or mud, so i guess i should change oil someday but that's all...

If I were just going to change fork oil... could i just stop here and jump to:

My bike sees very few dust, no sand or mud, so i guess i should change oil someday but that's all...

I think that would work. Just unscrew the cap, remove the spring and the little rod inside the damper, turn it upside down, pump it a few times, and when all the fluid has drained out, move on to the filling part. Nice and easy.

Just make sure the oil reaches the top of the inner tube. Otherwise you will get false reading level. It's always better to remove excess than not have enough.

There are small holes in the inner tube that let the oil seep between the inner/outer tubes.

I think that would work. Just unscrew the cap, remove the spring and the little rod inside the damper, turn it upside down, pump it a few times, and when all the fluid has drained out, move on to the filling part. Nice and easy.

Just make sure the oil reaches the top of the inner tube. Otherwise you will get false reading level. It's always better to remove excess than not have enough.

There are small holes in the inner tube that let the oil seep between the inner/outer tubes.

That's what I did ... left them upside down overnight.

Then when filling I cut down a spray bottle to the correct length to remove oil to the correct level.

dazler, i am planning an outback ride for april & may, extremely dusty so i've replaced the K&N with a unifilter foam unit & plan to use filter socks. will also carry the original foam filter preoiled as a quick replacement backup.